Our campus

In an ideal location as our campus is just 19 miles from central London and seven miles from Heathrow Airport. The College also has a central London base at Bedford Square in Bloomsbury.

Frequently named as one of the most beautiful campuses in the world. Our Founder’s Building is widely recognised as one of the most spectacular university buildings in the world. Founder’s is home to the famous Picture Gallerycontaining Thomas Holloway’s fine collection of Victorian paintings and the beautiful chapel; it also provides a remarkable residence for 500 students; and has a dining hall and restaurant, part of the library and some departments and services inside.

Continually evolving. Royal Holloway’s multi-million pound estate investment programme continues to enhance the campus, most recently with a new drama complex - the Caryl Churchill Theatre - and further phases of award-winning student accommodation, plus refurbishment and extensions to a number of academic buildings and services.

Our motto

Our motto: Esse quam videri, which means to be rather than to seem (to be) is taken from the coat of arms of Bedford College.

The motto appears below Royal Holloway's shield, which was created following the merger with Bedford College in 1985. The shield has three crescents; one is taken from Thomas Holloway's own coat of arms, the field of black and gold in a chequered design comes from Bedford's coat of arms and the additional ermine spots derive from Royal Holloway's coat of arms. Placed between two lozenges is a lamp of learning. It combines the heritage of both Royal Holloway and Bedford Colleges.

Our coat of arms is used in our logo.

Financials

Royal Holloway has an annual income of around £142 million. Copies of the College's Financial Statements are available online as PDF documents listed by date:

The Financial Statements include a report by the College's Auditors. In addition to the report contained within the Financial Statements the following wording is added at their request where Financial Statements are published electronically.

"Financial statements are published on the College’s website in accordance with legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements, which may vary from legislation in other jurisdictions. The maintenance and integrity of the company’s website is the responsibility of the Council. The College Council's responsibility also extends to the ongoing integrity of the financial statements contained therein.".

Royal Holloway is ranked in sixth place in the world (first in the UK) in the category of 'International Outlook': recognising our broader outlook as a global university. The rankings use three separate indicators to judge 'international outlook' - proportion of international staff and students and research in terms of papers that are co-authored with at least one international partner.

The university is also particularly highly rated for the wide-reaching impact of its research, scoring 98.9 per cent for citations: further cementing Royal Holloway’s status as one of the world’s premier research institutions. In 2014 we were named the number one university in the UK and 11th in the world for citations by THE.

Newspaper rankings

We are consistently ranked in the top tier of UK universities in rankings published by the British media.

League table

Rank

The Times Good University Guide 2015

34

The Complete University Guide 2015

33

The Guardian University Guide 2015

36

The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2015

34

Our departments also rank highly, for example:

Music ranked fifth in the Times Good University Guide 2015 and fourth in the Complete University Guide 2015.

Psychology ranked 14th in the Complete University Guide 2015, and 18th in the Guardian University Guide 2015, placing it in the top 17 per cent in the UK.

English ranked 13th in the Times Good University Guide 2015 and 15th in the Complete University Guide 2015.

Media Arts ranked 19th in the Guardian University Guide 2015 and 13th in both the Times Good University Guide 2015 and the Complete University Guide 2015, placing it in the top 25 per cent in the UK.

Geography ranked 13th in the Guardian University Guide 2015.

Drama ranked 12th in the Times Good University Guide 2015 and the Complete University Guide 2015.

Earth Sciences ranked 10th in the Times Good University Guide 2015 and sixth in the Guardian University Guide 2015.

History ranked 17th in the Guardian University Guide 2015, placing it in the top 19 per cent in the UK.

National Student Survey (NSS)

Royal Holloway students have given us a big vote of confidence in each successive National Student Survey, conducted independently with final year students. National rankings have placed the College among the top group of universities for students’ overall satisfaction with the quality of their academic experience.

Overall student satisfaction across the College has been highly rated every year. Our overall satisfaction rating in the most recent survey was 89 per cent (2014), putting us in the top 25 per cent for universities in the UK.

In 2014, nine departments reported improved levels of overall satisfaction, with the Department of Geography receiving 99 per cent (second in the UK). The Department of History and the Department of Computer Science both received 96 per cent, while the Department of Economics recorded the biggest increase from 81 per cent to 91 per cent overall satisfaction this year. Other departments that recorded significant improvements include Politics and International Relations, French, English and Media Arts.

The survey aims to help prospective students make informed choices about where to apply to study by comparing results on the official Unistats website.

Research

In the Research Excellence Framework (REF), published on Thursday 18 December 2014, it was confirmed that we sit within the top 25 per cent of UK universities for research which is rated as ‘world-leading’ and ‘internationally excellent’.

Our successes include:

81 per cent of our research is within the world-leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*) categories: an increase of more than 20 per cent from RAE 2008.

In addition, 30 per cent of our research is classed as 4*, the highest category.

Geography is ranked the top Geography department in England for 4* and 3* research.

Six of our departments are in the top 10 for 4* and 3* research, including Earth Sciences (second), Psychology (fourth), Mathematics (fifth), Music (fifth), Media Arts (ninth) and Drama and Theatre (10th).

Our results are testament both to the hard work and dedication of our staff and the investment that the College has made in recent years.